In a few days Sadhita and I travel to the "mystic" north of the British Isles to teach a yoga and meditation retreat with our friend and colleague Amitashuri, with Angela, one of our 200 hour students and friends supporting the event. Straight after the event we go south to London to teach a workshop at the London Buddhist Centre in Bethnal Green.

Lucy Turner who trained with us at 200 hour level in 2016 handed in her assignments when we met here in Valencia. She graciously is offering a week of gardening work at our retreat centre Suryavana hence the photo from the front yard.

This essay will present a brief overview on some experiences on treating PTSD (post- traumatic stress disorder) with mindfulness based stress reduction (MBSR) and Trauma Sensitive Yoga (TSY). To start with I will give a summary on what trauma and PTSD is, then explore MBSR and TSY as treatment for PTSD and then finally compare MBSR with TSY.

The trend towards high-intensity workouts has reinforced the notion, held by some, that yoga doesn’t really count because most of its forms don’t make the heart pound. It does, however, lower blood pressure and the risk of heart disease. A review of 17 studies published in 2013 found yoga reduced blood pressure and therefore the risks of heart disease and stroke.

Introduction

This essay will explore some aspects of yoga and hip work. The hips are an area which to most of us hold a lot of tension. This can have many reasons, but in this essay we will look at one specific problem, the piriformis syndrome. What are the main causes of performs syndrome and what asanas can we use to relieve the pain? Apart from that, I will also explore the statement that ’emotions are stuck in the hips’, which is commonly heard through out yoga classes - are there any relevance to this and how can this be addressed in our yoga classes?

This is contribution from Samantha Paranavitana, the second assignment for her 500 hour Certification which she completed this November 2017.

“What is the Noble Truth of Suffering? Birth is suffering, aging is suffering, dissociation from the loved is suffering, not to get what one wants is suffering: in short the five categories affected by clinging are suffering”